Surf Rock recommendations

[FoxHound4690]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for recommendations for 70's surf rock style music like Walk, don't run by the ventures. what can you recommend that's similar to this in terms of music groups and backing tracks etc.

[rockabilly69]

You want 70's surf music that sounds like 50's/60's surf music??? Walk Don't Run was written in 1960, and redone again by the Ventures in '64.

[Don W]

There are some good Ventures songbooks online. I grew up listening to them...still do. They were some of the first songs I learned.

[godfreydaniel]

Dick Dale:



The Belaires:

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Don W

There are some good Ventures songbooks online. I grew up listening to them...still do. They were some of the first songs I learned.

In addition to the Ventures songbook, if you want an authentic early surf sound you'll also need:

• Fender Strat (MIM if you're on a budget, AV '62 if you've got the liquid funds) - Jaguar or Jazzmaster could also be pressed into service; prices of original Mosrites have gone through the roof (and they're largely a matter of taste), but there are several updated versions available with more modern frets/necks and a more user-friendly price
• Flatwounds, preferably 11's or 12's; a well-known hack from the era is that you can set the action far lower than with roundwounds, which IME not only allows you to do half- and whole-step finger bends but fattens up your tone - and if you run the Leo-approved five-spring trem setup and deck the tailpiece you'll also improve your tuning stability and sustain
• When it comes to traditional surf amps, there's Fender - and then there's everything else (yeah, I know the East Coast guys used blue-check Ampeg Gemini I/II and B-12XT Portaflex combos - I was one of them - and there were a couple Magnatones in the mix); although most of the iconic blackface combos have been reissued be advised that they're heavy (65 pounds for a '65 Twin or Super Reverb RI , 42 for the relatively-compact Deluxe), so if this is an issue you might want to check out one of the new Tonemaster combos (22 pounds for the blackface Deluxe, 33 for the Twin - half the respective weights of their all-tube counterparts). Again if you're on a budget, the (discontinued) Fender Frontman 212R gets a lot of love on surf-oriented social media: looks like a '65 Twin from the front row, pumps out tons of classic Fender cleans, and with a speaker swap (the Eminence Cannabis Rex and Swamp Thang being the cones of choice - no Celestions here, thank you - but the latter will put you into tube-Twin territory weight-wise) and a full-size 'verb tank, it'll go toe-to-toe with the real-deal Twin for both volume and tone - not bad for $200-250 for a clean one
• Hawaiian-print shirt/white cutoff shorts/skips or sandals; hey, gotta have the look to go with the gear; just remember to shower off the Coppertone lotion before the gig - stuff really wreaks havoc with those DuPont custom-color Fender finishes...

[Caddy]

My band played a lot of that music back in the late 50’s
and early 60’s.

By the mid 60’s it had faded from mainstream popularity. (British Invasion)

[blue]

Depends on your budget. fender style single coil guitar with a trem is the easiest call on guitar. Fender style amp with decent headroom for your required volume level. DRRI is fine for home use. If you want a vintage amp the 60s Ampegs CAN be found in the $500 to $600 range.

If you plan on playing out you will need 40 or more watts. Bandmaster was the lowest wattage amp that worked for me. The heavy reverb you will be using will give the aural illusion of much less volume.

As to reverb I was recently struck by how much the reissue Fender reverb tanks are going for. $600 and more! that makes something like the Milkman F-stop or Strymon Flint a reasonable option for great reverb and tremolo. Tremolo is important. You will likely get into Link Wray and stuff like that The onboard reverb on a Fender amp isn't enough. You can get by, but it isn't enough. My old EHX holy grail is better than the average onboard reverb.

As to music DO NOT miss out on the 90's. Lots of superb trad bands came out. The ventures aren't Surf Rock. They are more accurately "Instro". For a great modern Instro band look at Los Straitjackets. And buy a Luchador mask

For Surf maybe check out Satan's Pilgrims. A very traditional band with a Horror Movie theme to a lot of their stuff. Man or Astroman? is SyFi based. Super Fun, and not too challenging for an intermediate level player. The Space Cossacks are wonderful but require some serious Surf chops! The tremolo picking required is significant!

Maybe go to the Surf Guitar 101 website. Be warned, they used to take their stuff very seriously! Haven't been there in over a decade, but there wasn't much room for heresy!

[Dirk Hofman]

I always love the Endless Summer theme by the Sandals in this genre:

[KevWind]

Going back Dick Dale is considered by many as the "Father of Surf music "
So just google basically anything by him on Youtube to get a taste
Other notables mentioned Ventures


But there were a number others who had hits like this classic bass and melody line

[clintj]

Originally Posted by blue

Depends on your budget. fender style single coil guitar with a trem is the easiest call on guitar. Fender style amp with decent headroom for your required volume level. DRRI is fine for home use. If you want a vintage amp the 60s Ampegs CAN be found in the $500 to $600 range.



If you plan on playing out you will need 40 or more watts. Bandmaster was the lowest wattage amp that worked for me. The heavy reverb you will be using will give the aural illusion of much less volume.



As to reverb I was recently struck by how much the reissue Fender reverb tanks are going for. $600 and more! that makes something like the Milkman F-stop or Strymon Flint a reasonable option for great reverb and tremolo. Tremolo is important. You will likely get into Link Wray and stuff like that The onboard reverb on a Fender amp isn't enough. You can get by, but it isn't enough. My old EHX holy grail is better than the average onboard reverb.



As to music DO NOT miss out on the 90's. Lots of superb trad bands came out. The ventures aren't Surf Rock. They are more accurately "Instro". For a great modern Instro band look at Los Straitjackets. And buy a Luchador mask



For Surf maybe check out Satan's Pilgrims. A very traditional band with a Horror Movie theme to a lot of their stuff. Man or Astroman? is SyFi based. Super Fun, and not too challenging for an intermediate level player. The Space Cossacks are wonderful but require some serious Surf chops! The tremolo picking required is significant!



Maybe go to the Surf Guitar 101 website. Be warned, they used to take their stuff very seriously! Haven't been there in over a decade, but there wasn't much room for heresy!

The outboard tanks get better drip, and they have the Dwell control that really lets them get some deep, surfy wet sounds. Plus, being in front of the amp you're fully amplifying the wet signal, unlike the later amps where it's halfway through the circuit.

[Morrill]

A good resource for all things surf music is www.surguitar101.com

Good folks over there.

Mike

[godfreydaniel]

Originally Posted by blue

For Surf maybe check out Satan's Pilgrims. A very traditional band with a Horror Movie theme to a lot of their stuff.

The first LP I ever bought (2nd hand from a neighbor) was “It’s Monster Surfing Time” by The Deadly Ones.
A monster-themed spoof of another surf band, The Lively Ones.

[dougdnh]

The earliest 'surf' type record I can recall was 'Moondog' by the Gamblers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZRqDiJg2s8

Though technically not surf music, you might also want to check out the Fireballs, an early guitar driven instrumental group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDQBkbWhCvE

[blue]

Originally Posted by godfreydaniel

The first LP I ever bought (2nd hand from a neighbor) was “It’s Monster Surfing Time” by The Deadly Ones.
A monster-themed spoof of another surf band, The Lively Ones.

Lots of fun horror surf. The Ghastly Ones are also great, plus they used to have Necrobella. A goth go-go dancer on stage with them! Love the Yamaha "banana" guitars in this clip!

[Steel and wood]

The Vanduras and their self titled album, the late great James Calvin Wilsey and his album El Dorado and the Atlantics from my home country Australia, just to name a few.